In the construction of buildings or other structures, it has long been known to use temporarily erected forms to receive concrete. For example, to fashion a column, a form is erected, perhaps about reenforcing steel bars (rebar) or a solid steel column. Hereinafter, rebar and solid steel members or columns will be collectively referred to as steel. Concrete is poured into the form around the steel and allowed to harden. When the concrete has sufficiently hardened to be self-supporting the form is disassembled, leaving behind the desired concrete column encasing the steel.
A problem encountered with conventional forms is that of locating the forms so as to be properly positioned about the steel and to maintain that position during the pouring of the concrete. Failure to initially obtain or to maintain the correct orientation of the form relative to the steel can result in improper or otherwise unacceptable encasement of the steel within the concrete. For example, the resultant column may be aesthetically unappealing due to undulations in the concrete encasement, the steel may be exposed leading to unappealing rust marks on the concrete column or, from a structural support standpoint, the steel reinforcing bars may be improperly encased and integrated into the column to give the desired supporting characteristics.
To obtain and maintain the proper relationship of the form to the steel, laborious alignment of the form to the steel during assembly of the form is required. Numerous external supporting means must also be used to maintain the form about the steel against the pressure of the concrete when it is poured into the form. As can be appreciated, these prior art techniques have been time consuming, fraught with pitfalls and, particularly from a labor standpoint, expensive.